by SERGE HALIMI
Our usual answer to the complaint that we’ve neglected activities or a cause is “we haven’t the time” — to read books or see films that are too long, or stroll round a museum or even down a street. We can’t read an article on a new subject without being interrupted, wherever we are, by an urgent call for our attention.
The new technologies, supposed to help us save time, are partly to blame, making it quick and cheap to move, to research, to send information and to communicate. But life is becoming dominated by demands for rapid response, and there are so many more tasks to be performed. “We have no time to stand and stare” (1).
Sometimes we haven’t the money, either: although a magazine, like Le Monde diplomatique,or a newspaper, is not that expensive, it is still a lot for people with limited means — working, unemployed, students, retired. That’s one reason why newspapers are closing down. Readership is steadily declining as reading papers, especially those that aren’t free, becomes another chore in aheavy schedule. Xavier Niel, co-owner of internet provider Free and Le Monde, thinksthere will be no print newspapers at all in a generation.
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Especially on the net. In France, 35 million people read a newspaper every day and 25 million visit at least one press site a month online. But net users believe that they must get something for nothing — although they will happily buy an expensive computer, smart phone or tablet, often to consult press sites that are free to use. Staff who collect, edit and check information get little income from online users. Thus, a parasitic economic structure is gradually being created, in which some reap all the rewards and others pay all the costs of “free” access.
Because of the internet, The Guardian is now number one in readership in the UK, and third in the world, but that did not prevent it from losing $73m last year and making around a hundred journalists redundant (with more to come). The increase in digital traffic has required more investment and coincided with a drop in paper sales. Six million people in the UK read at least one Guardian article a week but only 211,000 buy the paper each day. This small, and declining, number is funding the site net users read for free. This journey will end one day, for everyone, when the engine runs out of fuel.
Le Monde Diplomatique for more